I found a nativity scene which had such lovely figures of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus that I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. They were the beginning figures for my Christmas design. I wanted my design to express two different looks of Christmas, the traditional look and the birth of Jesus.

To make this design I took a picture of a Christmas tree with a wide gold-edged ribbon garland wrapped around it. I cloned out some of the garland and filled it with branches of the tree. My next step was to change the color of the inner ribbon to a dark blue or navy to represent night. The polka dots still remain on the background. The grain that you see is the natural grain of the ribbon.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were cut from the picture taken of the nativity scene. I pasted and centered them onto the ribbon and made them semi-transparent. Wanting to give this scene a special feel I added a small nova as the special star that signified Christ???s birth and added other stars for the night time sky.

I was lucky enough to find two other subjects to add to this scene. A beautiful treetop angel caught my eye and I added her as the holy messenger
and guardian of Baby Jesus. I added a soft glow around her.I also found a beautiful fragmented glass dove ornament which I thought would add a nice effect of peace and love. Both subjects were traced, copied and pasted to the mixed media creation. Baby Jesus also received a crown of stars around his head.

I hope you enjoy my expression of the two ways we look at Christmas.

Blessings for the New Year :o)
Helvi